Emeritus Professor Stanley H. Langer Passes Away

Emeritus Professor Stanley H. Langer passed away on October 25, 2012 at the age of 86. Funeral services were held October 28 in his home state of Louisiana.

Stan received his Ph.D. in physical chemistry from Northwestern University in 1952. He started work with Westinghouse Research Laboratory as a research chemist, and in 1954 joined the U.S. Bureau of Mines. In 1959 he spent a year on a Guggenheim Fellowship in the Department of Physical Chemistry at Cambridge University. Beginning in 1960 Stan worked at American Cyanamid as a group leader in charge of exploratory electrochemical research emphasizing fuel cells and related technologies. Stan joined the University of Wisconsin Department of Chemical Engineering in 1964 as an associate professor and was promoted to the rank of professor in 1968. Stan retired in 1996.

Stan was an enthusiastic and imaginative researcher, focused on catalysis and catalyst modification, electrogenerative processes, and chromatographic-based studies of the thermodynamics of solutions, reaction kinetics, and catalysis. Among other contributions, his work led to the introduction of nonpolluting, chemically-based processes for the recovery of copper, nickel, and several other metals, including precious metals, from ore, alloys, and composites.

Stan initiated and taught courses in kinetics and catalysis, electrochemical energy generation, chromatography, and reactor design and polymers. He served as a consultant with various industries, presented a number of invited lectures, and served as a visiting lecturer at the Weizmann Institute and the University of Oviedo. Stan received an honorary doctorate from the University of Oviedo in 1996 in recognition of his work in applied chemistry and chemical engineering, particularly in the areas of processing, chromatography, chromatography reactors and electrochemistry.

Although Stan's health had been failing for some time now, we will remember him for his kind heart and his big laugh, as well as his many professional contributions.